His is among the thousands of delayed titles in Minnesota's new licensing and registration system, referred to as MNLARS.

On Thursday, the state House did not grant a $10 million injection to the MNLARS system that state officials say they need urgently to keep staff employed and make improvements. Republicans are hesitant to put more money into a program they've called a debacle.

The program launched in July. It's been plagued by long wait times for some services and system glitches. Improvements are under way and may continue through fall 2019, according to new roadmaps for the project. It will take longer without additional funds.

In January, Minnesota IT Services and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety requested an additional $43 million — including that $10 million emergency request — for system improvements on top of the $93 million spent on MNLARS so far.

'State problem' at the local level

About a dozen St. Cloud-area residents shared their experiences with the licensing system with the St. Cloud Times through social media, phone calls and emails. Some residents had no trouble updating their license plate tabs, others are at their wits' end, waiting for titles and vanity plates.

The title backlog peaked at about 380,000 in early December, according to Minnesota IT Services. That number is down to 180,000.

Stearns County licencing centers have seen some improvement, said Dave Walz, the division director of service centers and elections.

His customer service staff would get logged off the system in the middle of a transaction and sometimes the whole system would be down for a few hours, Walz said. But those problems are less frequent thanks to software fixes.

Residents file their paperwork for titles and related documents at the licensing center, but they get delayed at the state level, which sends out titles and vanity plates, Walz said.

Some customers get frustrated, he said. "People understand it's not our fault when they come in here. It's a state problem."

He hasn't lost any staff over the matter, but they have racked up some overtime, Walz said.

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Drivers enter the Stearns County Service Center to renew their tabs and licenses Friday, March 2, in Waite Park.(Photo: Jason Wachter, jwachter@stcloudtimes.com)

A range of feedback

Some deputy registrars have paid for overtime, additional staff or staff turnover related to MNLARS issues, said Republican Sen. Scott Newman, chairman of the Transportation Finance and Policy Committee.

The Hutchinson Republican is caught between state officials who need funds for MNLARS improvements and the auto dealers and deputy registrars upset with the system's failures, he said. Those interest groups don't want him to authorize another dime for the program, he said.

"It's no longer just about the cost of the software. It's about damage to the Minnesota economy," Newman said. "People are not coming to Minnesota to buy cars."

Bengtson bought his truck in Arizona and filed for his title in Central Minnesota. He had to refile paperwork and said everything is in order now, except he's still waiting for his title.

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Drivers renew their tabs and licenses Friday, March 2, at the Stearns County Service Center in Waite Park.(Photo: Jason Wachter, jwachter@stcloudtimes.com)

Some people shared good experiences at the licence centers. Bernita Dahl picked up new license plate tabs this week.

"Was pleasantly surprised how fast I was in & out of Stearns County Service Center!," Dahl wrote on Facebook. Others say it's been fast and easy to replace their tabs.

Minnesota Senate Republicans have been collecting stories of licencing center problems through a website called MNLARSmess.com. But Newman denies the issue has been politicized.

"The government is not serving people well," Newman said. "You should not have to be stopped by police and be accused of driving a stolen car."

Stearns County sheriff's deputies know about the delays in the state system and may grant some leeway, said Patrol Lt. Kellan Hemmesch. "We take that into consideration."

If the tabs are years out of date, that's another issue, Hemmesch said. But officers do have discretion.

Uncertain future

The future of MNLARS could take a number of different turns. State officials have a plan for the $43 million they requested that would resolve by summer "high-priority defects," including those in vehicle titling, registration and specialty license plates, according to a project roadmap.

Without the $10 million that the House denied Thursday, the high-priority defects won't be addressed until summer 2020, according to a press release from Minnesota IT Services.

The state also has to send layoff notices now to contractors who will lose contracts on the system by the end of the month, wrote the state's Chief Information Officer Johanna Clyborne in a letter to lawmakers.

"We have answered every question asked of us, provided 82 pages of written response, have testified in three separate hearings this week alone and have had many private meetings with legislators," Clyborne said in that release Thursday. "I understand the Legislature has a hard job to do. However, this system is too important to stop improving, and we need to cross the finish line."

Dana Bailey, executive director of Projects and Initiatives at Minnesota IT Services, understands that lawmakers need information to have the confidence to move forward, she wrote in an email to the St. Cloud Times. She has promoted the state's plan to fix the system.

Yet the funding for those improvements remains uncertain. And meanwhile state lawmakers are working on a bill to reimburse the registrars who've had to pay extra to manage the system's defects, Newman said. He expects more hearings on the matter.

Officials and customers at the local level expect improvements.

"We expect that they deliver us a product that works," Walz said. "It shouldn't cost us more to operate."